Falling for your Soul
by Spykee
Summary: To catch a serial rapist, Gray transforms into a woman. When the rapist's drug disables him from using magic, it seems like he's stuck in a woman's body! Gray's pride is in the way of him outing his true identity to anyone but Natsu and Natsu feels he enjoys the presence of pretty feminine Gray a little too much. After all, he's still a man inside! Warning: mentions of rape.
1. Don't Laugh

**Rated T for language and mentions of rape and attempted rape; no graphic scenes. (will contain Transgender themes - man stuck in a woman's body)  
**

**Chapter 1: Don't Laugh**

"I refuse." Natsu said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away with a pout on his face.

"Don't be a fucking baby, Natsu. I don't want to do it either, but the guild really needs the money." Gray copied the crossing of his arms but kept his eyes sternly on Natsu, who didn't seem to be swayed yet.

"Why can't Lucy do it? Or Erza?" the pink said in a whiney voice, he let his arms drop to his side in defeat, knowing that the girls couldn't quite do it, they'd discussed this earlier.

Gray sighed dramatically, bringing his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose as though trying to stop a headache. "You know Erza's out on a mission and do you _really _want Lucy to do this?" He waited for Natsu to sadly shake his head before he continued. "Now let's play rock paper scissors on who's got to do it."

Reluctantly, Natsu held his hand out in a fist before him, "first call or best out of three?"

"What are you? Eight? First call, let's just get this over with." Gray said, really not looking forward to what might happen.

"Alright…" Natsu said, and they shook their fists in time only for Gray's hand to show scissors and Natsu's to show rock. "R-really, I just won?" Natsu stared at the hands in shock before raising the fist he was holding out to Gray into the air and cheering. "Alright!" he repeated himself, just with a little more enthusiasm this time.

Gray stared at his hand in shock. Well, fuck. He sighed, knowing he had to do this, the Guild was in a rough place since Tartaros, with all the damage of the explosion, and every job needed to be handled for them to be able to get around and still pay their rents and groceries. And this job was a rather easy one with quite the reward.

Natsu toned down his enthusiasm enough to look at the defeated face Gray'd put up and sympathetically asked: "if you really don't want to do it, Gray, you don't have to."

"No I do actually." Gray said, "it'll be fine, I'm going to go look for Mira for a couple touch-ups and some stuff we'll need, we'll be leaving in an hour, alright?" He said, but he didn't wait for an answer as he saw Mirajane disappear into the kitchen and he quickly followed her.

Natsu couldn't help but smile at Gray's back, the raven was quite noble in his ways and Natsu always respected that about him. Also, he was suddenly really looking forward to this mission. It was going to be fun.

* * *

They'd decided to walk to the destination, since Gray said he really didn't want to have to be stuck with a motion sick Natsu all the way and Natsu happily agreed of course. They didn't talk much along the way, apart from some job-related stuff and the occasional argument of course. They arrived at the destination at around 5 pm, which left them two hours to eat and get ready for the planned evening.

By the time they got to the hotel that'd also be serving them dinner, Natsu was rather excitable.

"What the heck are you grinning at me for, Flame Brain?" Gray said, stuffing the peas into his mouth.

But Natsu's grin only widened, "I'm just imagining…" He sighed happily and Gray's face instantly colored a bright red.

"S-Stop doing that!" He replied, "don't think about that Natsu, it's just a job."

"Yeah, I know! The best job ever," Natsu cheered, having done a complete one-eighty from his opinion on the mission before they'd done the game of rock papers scissor.

Gray grumbled something inaudible and growled when Natsu still seemed to be staring at him. He stood up abruptly from the table, barely having touched his food. "I'm going to get ready. Don't enter the bathroom if you like your dick to be attached to your body." He threatened, which gave Natsu a cold shiver, he realized the ice mage meant what he said.

Gray stormed out of the diner, clearly pissed off, but Natsu just couldn't help but still be excited about everything. Man, did he love this mission.

He ate his food calmly, knowing Gray was going to take quite a while in the bathroom. When he was finished he paid for the food and went upstairs. He quietly slipped into the room, hoping somewhere to catch Gray in the room off guard, but he appeared to still be in the bathroom. Natsu chuckled at the curses that emerged from the bathroom.

"Fucking hell…" Gray mumbled from inside, "this shit fucking hurts, how the fuck do they usually do this."

Natsu snuck over to the bathroom door, ready to take a sneak peak at Gray.

"And these fucking things are way too heavy, I'm gonna fucking fall over."

A blush crept over the pink's face as he realized what Gray was talking about. He placed his hand on the doorknob but froze when Gray spoke up again.

"Natsu?" He said loudly, "Natsu, I know you're in there, _please _hand me the towel, I left in on the bed."

Slightly bummed about being caught, Natsu stomped over to the bed and grabbed the white towel before stomping back to the bathroom, realizing that to give him the towel, he'll have to open the door. So, trying to look as ignorant and innocent as he always did, he turned the knob on the door and threw open the door.

There he stood –or she, technically-, silky long straight hair the color of midnight at full moon flowed down his back like a waterfall, reaching all the way down to his tailbone, beneath which a beautifully round ass was bare and right in Natsu's sight, still dripping wet from the shower. His face, half visible due to the fact that he was looking over his shoulder in surprise, had become a little skinnier, though his jawline was still as pronounced as ever. His eyes were wide from shock, but sparkling and big and dark blue where they used to be onyx. It was clearly Gray standing before him, so technically, there was no way that Natsu could be attracted to him, or her. But god, was he beautiful with his hands wrapped protectively around his chest, yet not caring if his butt was in view. He didn't say anything, although the pink hue over his face told Natsu that he was embarrassed and possibly a little angry.

In a sudden wave of protectiveness, Natsu spread the blanket like towel wide and approached Gray, who squirmed under his eyes. Carefully, Natsu wrapped the towel around Gray's back, making sure it covered his butt, and draped the ends over his shoulders before he left the bathroom. He knew he'd thought it before but this mission really was the best.

He opened up the closet and took out the tux Lucy'd told him to wear to the party they were supposed to attend. While he dressed himself his mind kept wandering off to Gray's naked butt and his long silky hair and the pink hue on his feminine face and god was he gorgeous, he couldn't wait to show him off tonight. After all, Gray was supposed to be his date, wasn't he?

He stood in front of the mirror trying to tie the godforsaken bowtie that he swore was malfunctioning. It had to be broken. "Arrgh," Natsu let out in frustration as he threw the piece of fabric on the bed. "Gray, get the hell out here!" he yelled, "we don't want to be late at the party and I can't fucking tie that thing." He groaned. Gray was taking his sweet time getting out of that bathroom.

And yet, when the door slowly opened to about a quarter of an inch, time slipped Natsu's mind as he was wholly focused. He said nothing as the door moved ever so slowly. When nobody appeared in the gap, Natsu stood up to go see what was up with Gray, when his feminine voice emerged from the bathroom.

"If you laugh you sleep outside tonight."

Natsu swallowed, his gaze still intensely focused on where Gray would appear to him.

Slowly, he could see Gray's now slender hand place itself against the inside of the door and push it open further. The air was pregnant with anticipation as Natsu could hear the faint clicking of heals on the tiles.

* * *

**AN: **

Waaaaaah Cliffhanger! Just wanted to say I'll be narrating with he/him pronouns for Gray since he's still a man, just in a woman's body, in speech it might differ, depending on the person who's talking. It seemed the most fair to him and also helps you remember that it is still the same Gray Fullbuster, instead of like his female twin sister.


	2. Smiling not Laughing

**Chapter 2: Smiling not Laughing**

_Natsu swallowed, his gaze still intensely focused on where Gray would appear to him. Slowly, he could see Gray's now slender hand place itself against the inside of the door and push it open further. The air was pregnant with anticipation as Natsu could hear the faint clicking of heals on the tiles. _

And out stepped Gray.

The deep blue nightgown hugged his slender body tightly, accentuating his waist, hips and, well, his boobs. They were grande, glorious, slightly smaller than Lucy, more elegant, a deeply cut v-neck showed his cleavage to the finest and Natsu could just see the edges of Grays insignia in the same color of his dress peaking out from underneath the fabric on his breast. A split that started suggestively high on his thigh showed off one of his gorgeous silky legs, it seemed to make a promise of revealing the other one later at night - or possibly Natsu was just making up stuff now. Open sandal-like heels adorned his feet and showed off his pedicured and painted toenails the color of the deep ocean –somewhere a shade between the dress and his eyes. His hands, he now realized, as one was leaning on Gray's beautiful hips, sported the same color on their nails.  
Natsu's eyes trailed upwards to find Gray's neck bare of anything. For some reason this shocked Natsu; he'd seen the ice mage naked tons of times but he'd never shed his necklace. Letting his gaze linger on the naked collar bones made a shiver run down Natsu's spine over how exposed and vulnerable it seemed. Protected by nothing.  
He tore his eyes away from Gray's neck and up to his face; he'd kept his hair down, long, reaching down to cover his lower back, but had adorned it with a deep blue sparkling headband, the colour of his dress. Strands of hair framed his face and covered his forehead and fell just before his eyes. Those eyes, dark enough not to stray too far from his usual onyx but light enough to clearly be blue, accentuated by the darkened eyelashes and eyelids colored black that faded into his skin. His lips were plump and alluring, glossed over with a light pink lipgloss that made Natsu want a taste more than anything.

All in all, Gray looked positively ravishable. Somewhere, he figured, Gray resembled his sister Ultear, she was fierce and elegant as well. Or maybe even Ur, although Natsu had only seen her on pictures, she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever laid eyes on. Gray was probably number one, as of now.

Under his stare, the porcelain doll came to life, shocking Natsu out of his state of awe. Gray moved over to Natsu, due to which Natsu noticed that, even with the short heals, Gray was now just a tad shorter than him, he grinned, knowing this.

"Stop grinning, you idiot. I told you; you're sleeping outside if you keep this up." He scolded, he picked the untied bowtie up from the bed and moved to stand in front of Natsu. Reaching out his hand he tilted Natsu's face up and fumbled around his neck.

Natsu could feel Gray's breath on his neck with how close they stood. He could smell the shampoo and perfume that Gray wore as well and he had to dig deep into his resolves not to wrap his arms around Gray's form and capture him forever.

He felt a slight tug on his neck and some more fumbling before Gray stepped back to look at him, "there, all done." He gestured with his hand towards the mirror so that Natsu could see for himself.  
Natsu did as he was instructed and turned to the mirror, examining himself. He looked good in a tux, but he'd known that already. He stretched out his arm when Gray offered his jacket to him and let his friend and rival slip it on to his arms before he fixed it himself. "How do I look?"

For a second, he expected Gray to say something like 'stunning' or 'dashing' and he imagined he would say something alike to him. But Gray only huffed and rolled his eyes, "we're not here for the fashion show, Casanova, we only need to finish the job and go home."

"Of course." Natsu said, being brought back to the harsh reality that it wasn't some romantic James Bond movie and that beside him stood Gray, his annoying rival. He let his grin slip back onto his face when he turned back to Gray and said, "well, I think you look pretty, anyway."

He was rewarded with a pink hue pulling over Gray's face and a muttered: "asshole" to go with it.

Natsu briefly reveled in the feeling of victory before Gray sprayed something in his face. When he looked at the bottle, it appeared to be cologne. It smelled eerily familiar to the dragon slayer, though he was sure he had never seen that bottle before.

"It's mine." Gray said, "but you're going to need something and that body odor is not going to cut it." He sprayed again, this time on his chest instead of his face.

Natsu deeply inhaled the scent and nodded, that was definitely Gray.

"Well then," Gray said, "let me just hide Mirajane's magic charm somewhere and we'll be out." His skinny legs carried him back to the bathroom and when he came back he was holding something that looked like a tiny pink lacrima, he put it in a jewelry box that stood open on his nightstand and shoved the little black suede box underneath his matrass. Then he walked to the door and held it open for Natsu, "the heck are you waiting for?"

Natsu nodded quickly and jumped out the room so that Gray could close the door behind him. When they were out of the hotel, Natsu finally thought to ask his friend; "what kind of lacrima was that?"

Gray frowned at him, his thin and neatly plucked eyebrows fascinating Natsu, though the frown was clearly meant to scold him. "It's not a lacrima, Ash for Brains, it's a magic charm." He waited for a reaction but Natsu was clearly at a loss, "they're items that mages can store some of their magic in, making them magic items. It's basically what most treasures are, but these small charms only have enough magic for a couple of spells."

"Oh," Natsu said, then it dawned on him, "Oh! You're borrowing her transformation magic through that stone!"

Gray nodded with a small content smile on his face, as though he was a little proud at Natsu for figuring it out.

"Then shouldn't you keep it with you? Like, won't the spell run out if you leave it behind?"

Gray shook his head, due to which one long strand of soft hair fell over his shoulder, grasping both Natsu's and Gray's attention for a second, before Gray continued: "no, see, since it's just a small charm, it doesn't store enough magic to keep me transformed all night and to transform me again tomorrow night if the mission fails. So levy altered some things about it and now I only need to use some of the magic to permanently stay in this form until I use some of the magic to turn back again."  
Now it was Natsu's time to frown, "isn't that dangerous? What if you lose the charm?"

Gray brought his slender hand up to his head and raked his fingers through the locks on his head, incidentally moving the strand over his shoulder back to his back. "Well, yes, I suppose. That's why I hid it and why I'm not taking it with me. But even if it gets lost it's still not that big of a deal, Levy and Mirajane could turn me back without too much effort."

Natsu smiled at the idea of getting to take female Gray all the way back to the guild, for everyone to see him as a girl by Natsu's side.

"Oi, asshole!" someone shouted from across the street. Both Natsu and Gray turned their way and found two middle aged man standing there together smoking cigars. "How about you take care of your girl, it's freezing outside!"

It took a second before Natsu realized what they meant, and he looked at Gray, who stood there with a lot of skin exposed. He could catch a cold, if it wasn't for the fact that Gray was an ice-mage and would've probably been standing here naked if he didn't have any boobs to protect right now. He looked a little closer to see Gray shivering –not from the cold, but from anger.

"Fucking dick, like I can't fucking take care of myself." Gray grumbled, his face on storm.

"Calm down, Gray." Natsu whispered, he waved at the people across the street to show them he had no ill will. He shook off his jacket and draped it over Gray's shoulders. "Here, they're right, I look like an asshole with you nearly naked in the cold beside me."

Gray just rolled his eyes, but let the jacket rest on his shoulders, "that's it," he said, giving a small nod to the large building ahead, the lights shone brightly through the big windows and the entrance which, with the red carpet and pillars at the sides, looked like a portal to heaven.

"Alright," Natsu said, he laid a hand in the small of Gray's back and nudged him forward. But Gray didn't budge.

"We can't go in together, you idiot." He said. Upon the confused and hurt look Natsu gave him he rolled his eyes, "remember the only way I'm here looking like a fucking woman is so that the target will try to get in my pants. He won't do that with Fiore's most infamous dragonslayer by my side."

"Oh," Natsu said, he wasn't just a little disappointed that he didn't get to pretend that Gray –gorgeous, sexy Gray- was his escort that night, but he shook it off. "Okay, then at least let me think of a name for you."

"A what?"

Natsu chuckled, "you're not going to charm any guys with a name like Gray Fullbuster."

Gray couldn't help but let a blush creep over his nose, he looked to the side. Natsu wondered if he was embarrassed about his name, or ashamed that he hadn't thought to use another.

"So, I was thinking, since your name is a colour and all, maybe we stay in that trend? Say, Ruby? Jade?" He gave Gray a once-over and a shit-eating grin spread across his face, "Raven."

Gray couldn't help but roll his eyes, but at least the name fit him, he supposed. "Fine, do you want to take a shot at the last name or can I go in, now?"

"How about Dragneel," Natsu said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and earning a stomp to his shoulder. He sighed, "okay, let's see," he tapped his finger to his chin in though, "Raven Redfox?" That was obviously a joke, "McGarden? Heartfilia? Raven Lockser?"

"Stop that. If I'm taking anyone's last name, I'd rather it not be anyone from the Guild."

"I know it's not really last name material, but maybe Mika?" Natsu said.

Gray snapped his head towards him, eyes popped all the way open and mouth hanging agape. "Wh-what did you just say?"

Natsu turned bright red, unsure if what he just said crossed way too many lines, "that… that's your mother's name, right? I'm sorry, I just thought… I'm sorry…" He relented, his heart beating fast at the shocked and hurt face Gray held.

Gray stared at him for a second, "how…?" but he never finished the question, though Natsu figured he wondered how Natsu knew. After all, the raven never talked about his birth mother and father, only ever about Ur. "Raven Mika…" He mouthed instead, right before his hurt expression turned into one of determination. Then he tugged the jacket off his shoulders with one hand and held it out to Natsu. He didn't say anything else before he turned around and strutted forward into the beautiful entrance.

"Raven Mika," Natsu whispered, looking at the way Gray's hips swayed with every step, he looked positively marvelous, enchanting. He stared until the other'd disappeared into the building before he proceeded to put on the jacket, the cologne Gray'd sprayed on it infiltrating his nose and cracking his face open into a wide smile. God, did he love this mission…

* * *

He hated the mission.

* * *

**AN: **

Disappointments ahead for Natsu! Please drop your comments -positive or negative- into the comment section, I feed off those!


	3. Not Laughing Now

**Chapter 3: Not Laughing Now**

_He hated the mission. _

It seemed like every single man and gay woman in the entire building was trying to get their hands on Gray, yet every single time Natsu tried to get even remotely near him, Gray gave him that scary glare that told him he was ruining everything.

Natsu couldn't help but keep his eyes glued upon Gray when another man stood in front of him. Even Natsu could admit that this one was gorgeous, suspiciously so. Natsu figured he needed to remember every single face that dared to thread too closely to Gray, because any one of them could be the target. This particular target… um, man… grabbed Gray's delicate hand and brought it up. Natsu nearly gagged at the thought that that man was going to kiss Gray's hand. Luckily, the man didn't dare to do so, he merely bowed lightly with his head and laid his other hand on top of Gray's. He said something that seemed to color Gray's cheeks pink.

Natsu's curiosity got the better of him and he cautiously swayed a little closer to the pair, making sure to stay within Gray's blind side so that he would not be spotted and scolded.

"Raven, you said?" he heard the man say, "a beautiful name befitting a gorgeous woman."

To Natsu's satisfaction, Gray merely raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, sir," he said, "with such language you must get all the ladies here."

Natsu danced a little further away, hooking his arm onto a young woman so that he would not be as awkward dancing alone. He granted her a quick smile before looking over his shoulder to see Gray's face. He could just see the challenging grin his teammate sported when the handsome man laughed, but was too far away to hear what the man said.

Gray's eyebrows shot up in surprise, before he let out a girly giggle, of which the sound fluttered so lightly, it reminded Natsu of butterflies.

"Well actually," Gray said, just before locking eyes with Natsu over the shoulder of the man, "I was just about to get a drink. You're invited to come with, unless you have other ladies to charm." Without waiting for an answer, Gray turned around and made his way through the crowd to find a spot at the bar. The man, of course, followed suit.

The gaze Gray'd carefully thrown Natsu's way was more meaningful than what he said, however; Gray suspected this man to be their target.

Natsu hurried over to the bar to see how Gray would act and if he was right, although Natsu was quite sure he was actually. This guy seemed such a douche.

When he reached the bar, though, he realized he was wrong. They were both wrong, and he was too slow to do anything about it. He was quickly coming up to Gray, who'd already ordered a drink and had it standing on the bar next to where he was leaning against it with his back, his eyes trained on the guy who was on the other side of him. No-one saw the other guy sneaking up on Gray's other side and dropping something in his glass. No-one but Natsu. "Gray!" He shouted, but wasn't loud enough to be heard over the masses of voices and the distance still between them. Natsu couldn't help but wince when Gray grabbed the glass and clinked it to the man's before gulping the sparkling drink with the drug down in one go. "No!"

But it was too late, the only thing Natsu could do now was get Gray to safety before the drug started to work, which was fast, he noticed, as the next second Natsu could just make out Gray's eyes rolling to the back of his head and his knees buckling before he fell forward. The man caught him and brought him down to the ground with him, shouting his fake name until Gray's body was pulled from sight by the masses of people surrounding him.

"No, no, no!" Natsu started to panic, trying to push his way through the gathering crowd, "let me through!" but no one was focused on him and when he finally got to the crime scene, Gray was gone.

He spotted the man on his knees on the ground and dropped down beside him, "Where's h- she? Where is she?"

The man roughly pulled his hands off his clothes, which Natsu hadn't even realized he'd put there and snarled at him, "some guy took her, I suppose they went to the hospital. Now who are you?"

Hospital. Natsu's head echoed, he needed to go to the hospital. No. "What did the guy look like?" He remembered the nearly white skin and red hair of the man that'd passed them by the bar.

"A redhead," the guy said, "around my age I suppose."

Panic struck Natsu's heart again as he pushed his way out of the masses until he was in the cool air of the night. He looked around, not finding any trace of his friend. He started running down the main road, where him and Gray'd come from, and took a deep breath through his nose. "Left." He mouthed to himself before he dashed into one of the alleys, coming out onto another street that was parallel to the one he'd been using. He sniffed again and ducked into a side street, trying to pinpoint where Gray's smell came from.

After about five more minutes –he swore, the alcohol messed with his senses- he stood in front of a door.

Inside he could just hear some footsteps, but nothing too suspicious, although his nose clearly told him Gray was in here, and not in a hospital. He quickly looked up and around, trying to find a way in that wouldn't immediately alert the perpetrator, but when he heard Gray's high pitched yelp from inside, he couldn't just sit by anymore, and decided to kick in the door with a loud bang. He ran up the stairs, following Gray's scent to one of the doors and kicking it open to find a sight that shocked him to his core.

Gray laid on the bed in the middle of the room, his hands tied up to the headboard and his feet tied with rope to both lower corners of the bed. The dress Gray'd been wearing was torn to pieces and laid scatterd across the room with just Gray's panties to cover him. His eyes were closed tightly as he whimpered in what sounded suspiciously like fear.  
Natsu scolded himself for the second in which he was somewhat fascinated by the sight of a dominated squirming naked Gray, but came to his senses and rushed over, "it's okay, Gray, it's me. Shush, baby." He hushed, quickly untying the rope around Gray's hands and bringing him up in a hug when his hands were loose. "I'm here Gray."

Gray heaved loudly and Natsu found traces of sweat all across Gray's back. They sat for a second, with Gray trying to retrieve his breathing but when it didn't slow down, Natsu realized something else was wrong. His nose picked up the scent of some chemical. "Are you feeling alright, Gray? Are you getting sick?"

When Natsu held him at arm's length, Gray allowed himself to cough, at which black slime covered the blankets in his lap.

"Gray!" Natsu jumped up at the horrifying sight of the thick black liquid dripping out of Gray's mouth and droplets of it falling onto his naked chest. He quickly removed the ties on Gray's feet and helped Gray to the side of the bed where he vomited what seemed like liters of the black goo followed by a couple minutes of hemorrhaging.

Natsu let his hand slip into the pocket of his jacket and took out a small communication lacrima that he'd had with him in case of emergency. He quickly pushed small amounts of magic into the flat little stone the size of a watch.

It was Cana's face that popped up on the stone, "Natsu, Gray? Are you alright?" But Natsu figured his face spoke for him, because Cana continued to say: "what happened?"

"Gray got drugged and I don't think he's reacting very well to it, he got knocked out immediately and he's been throwing up black slime ever since, I don't know what to do."

Cana looked to her side and disappeared from the screen, only to be replaced by Mirajane seconds after.

"Natsu!" she said, "Porlyusica is here right now, take Gray home as quickly as you can, we'll be waiting for you at the train station. Don't hesitate, Porlyusica says time is of the essence." She broke connection with him and Natsu turned to Gray again. He was throwing up goo again and Natsu figured he needed to get it all out before they went. Softly patting Gray's naked back, he whispered: "we're going home Gray, we're going home right now." Gray's body slumped into him, exhausted and sick. "But first, we need to get you covered." He said. He wrapped his arms around Gray and carefully pushed him off to lay him down on the bed. Obviously he'd smelled that the perpetrator was long gone, so getting Gray to safety was more important now than going after him.

He walked over to the closet of the man, only to find it empty of everything but a bucket and a shoebox. Out of pure curiosity Natsu opened the shoebox and cringed when he found all sorts of strange objects of which Natsu recognized some as butt plugs, dildos, handcuffs and was that a vibrator? He quickly shut the box again, hoping Gray hadn't seen. But the other was curled up on the bed, sweating heavily and breathing raspy breaths.

When Gray moaned, Natsu realized he was wasting valuable time and he quickly ripped off his jacket and bowtie. He unbuttoned his shirt and helped put it on Gray. It wasn't much but at least it covered both his chest and his butt, so long as he kept his arms down at least.

Just when he was about to pick up Gray to get him to the train station, the other started to cough up the strange liquid again. Natsu placed a hand on his forehead to try and get a feel for his temperature. He was burning up, which was a lot for someone who's regular body temperature was around 15 degrees Celsius. "Gray, please get it together, I'm going to take you home."

He ran to the toilet to get a bit of toilet paper and stuffed his pockets with it. Only giving Gray a couple of the papers before pulling him up into his chest.

Resting one arm around Natsu's neck, Gray used his spare to keep the toilet paper to his mouth as he coughed up more and more of the black liquid.

When Natsu moved his bare arms so that Gray's skinny legs laid more comfortable, he realized that the way he was being carried, Gray's entire butt was exposed. It would have to do.

He ran out through the door and quickly skipped across the street. It was still dark, but it was getting a little lighter so Natsu knew the sun would come up soon. They were in luck, because the creep actually lived rather close to the train station. Arrived at the destination, Natsu realized both of them had left their documents in the hotel.

"Sir!" He shouted at the man in the ticket booth, the man didn't seem to want to be there at that moment in time, not in the least. Then again, who could blame him, so early in the morning. "Sir," he said, breathing heavily from the run and the weight of Gray, "you need to help me my friend… he's- she's not doing well." Gray moaned in agreement with him and the man took his glasses off his nose to take a closer look. "I came here so fast I forgot the documents, will you please just let us travel to Magnolia to the doctor, I'll come back to pay, I promise!"

Whether it was the panic in Natsu's voice, or the disinterest of the man or maybe it was the suspicious substance leaking down Gray's chin and neck that were so pale they seemed blue.

With only a curt nod, the man printed the tickets, "is she still breathing? Should I call the alarm number?"

"We already did," Natsu said as he tore the tickets from the man's fingers, "you're a lifesaver!" He shouted before he ran off, Gray still clutched between his arms. When he'd jumped aboard the train, just before it rode off, he dared to lay him down. The ticket clerk was right; it did seem like he wasn't breathing.

* * *

**AN:**

I used Celsius because I'm European and I'm too lazy to look up Fahrenheit or Kelvin or whatever! just know that 0 degrees Celsius is freezing temperature and 37 is the temperature of the human body, so Gray's pretty cold.


	4. Missing Your Laugh

**Chapter 4: Missing Your Laugh**

When he'd jumped aboard the train, just before it rode off, he dared to lay him down. The ticket clerk was right; it did seem like he wasn't breathing.

"Gray!" Natsu shouted, starting to frantically push the balls of his hands into his chest. As though a light bulb lit above him, in a sporadic moment of geniality, Natsu realized Gray may have choked on his vomit. He sat Gray up in his arms and hit his back rather roughly. Obviously he'd skipped the guild's course on first aid and resuscitation, that's just who he was. But as he hit Gray's back once more, and tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, he whispered a promise to his friend that if the other survived this trip, he would take the course.

He wrapped his arms around Gray's chest and pushed his hands into Gray's stomach, the same way he'd once seen some doctor do on one of Lucy's cheesy chick flics. He barely noticed the tears had started streaming down his cheeks as he realized nothing had changed, "please Gray, don't leave me…" he did it once more, and suddenly movement erupted from the raven babe. He burst into coughs yet again and moved forward to settle his hands on the ground, so that he could vomit what he needed to get out. Natsu leaned over him, his body still pushed flushed against the raven's back, too scared to let go. He felt sick and tired, but also beyond happy at the disgusting and terrible noises coming from his teammate. He pushed his face into the back of Gray's neck, the silky locks had long fallen victim to the vomit, and let the tears stream down onto the other's skin.

When Gray's stomach, or wherever the goo came from, was empty yet again, his arms gave away under both his and Natsu's weight and they crash-landed on the floor, into the puddle of whatever it was. But both Gray and Natsu were too tired to care.

"Talk to me, Gray," Natsu said.

Yet when he spoke up, the feminine voice made a shiver run up and down his back. It was raspy and sore and breathless and so, so hurt; "I…" He breathed, "I don't feel so good, Natsu."

Natsu tightened his arms around Gray's back and stomach, pulling the smaller, curvier body into him. "I know Gray. Just don't go quiet on me." He pushed his nose into the raven's hair and smelled the familiar scent of Gray, unchanged, yet different. "Not…" he tried, "not again."

"H-hey, Natsu…" It might've been a question but with the voiceless whisper and the tired tone, they were just toneless, meaningless words. "Are you…" there was a long pause and Natsu couldn't help but nudge him where his hand still laid on his stomach, worry yet again seeping into his very toes. But it was okay, because Gray continued to talk, "are you okay..."

He could barely hear it, and when he did, he thought he'd heard wrong. Gray, stuck in the body of a woman, throwing up something that looked a suspicious amount like black blood, lying in a puddle of the goo with nothing on but panties and a used shirt, was asking Natsu if he was okay. And it took the pink multiple minutes before he realized what it was that Gray was worried about.

Somewhere along the line the train had started moving, and Natsu had not even noticed.

"I'm not… okay." Natsu said, with a small smile, "but I will be. As soon as you're safe and sound in Porlyusica and Wendy's care, then I will be fine."

There was a moment in which Gray only let out a content sigh and and snuggled closer to Natsu, who appreciatively accepted him. "Natsu…" he then softly whispered, as though he was afraid to break the silence.

"Yes, Gray?" Natsu replied, trying to keep the calm between them

"Please don't…" his voice broke, "tell them it's me."

Confused, Natsu frowned, "what?"

Gray turned around, groaned all the while, but turned nonetheless in Natsu's arms. Natsu had almost forgotten that Gray was sick, but his face was still glimmering with sweat, and his skin was still bluish pale and his eyes were bloodshot and teary. "Porlyusica…" he breathed, "is fine… and Mirajane… but n-no more." He coughed a little and Natsu was temporarily distracted by the lack of black goo spluttering the room.

"And Cana, she was there when I contacted Mirajane. And we have to tell Makarov." He looked as Gray averted his eyes in sadness, "but no more, I promise."

Natsu felt a wave of nausea finally hit him as the movement in the train changed when it started to slow down, yet he forced the feeling back down and instead replaced it with a feeling of relief, "we're here Gray…"

But Gray didn't reply, and when Natsu looked down to his peaceful face, he realized that Gray'd lost consciousness. The faint idea of panic started to rise within him again but Gray's steady breaths echoed in his ear.

"You're okay, let's get you out of here." He stood slowly, dragging the gross poorly dressed and messy Gray with him. The substance was everywhere; smudged along the white dress shirt and smeared across his chin and cheeks and throat; he seemed straight out of a horror movie. His hair was stuck together because of the liquid and Natsu knew it was going to be a hell washing and brushing it.

The train stopped fully, and a content feeling settled back into Natsu's stomach, knowing the motion was finished. However, this time, as he moved with Gray carefully wound up in his arms, he kept a close check on the raven's breathing, taking note of every breath he skipped.

One can imagine he was beyond happy to find Mirajane, Porlyusica and Cana already standing at the platform, rushing over to them the second the doors opened.

"Natsu, Gray! You look terrible!" Mirajane cried, while Cana quickly took Gray out of his arms and into her own.

Although glad on the one hand that Gray was in good care and that he could rest his arms, he felt a distance between him and his teammate that unsettled him, "he was conscious just minutes ago…" Natsu breathed, exhaustion finally catching up to him.

Porlyusica barely spared him a glance before she turned fully to Cana, who held Gray's body out to her. "I just hope we're not too late…" She walked out of the train station in a quick pace, Cana, with Gray, following close behind. Mirajane pulled on Natsu's arm, making him wrap it around her shoulders and supporting him in his weight the way he needed so bad right now.

The rest of the way home was just a blur to him, he felt like he was slowly entering and leaving consciousness and thought that if it wasn't for Mira, he would've been left behind somewhere along the road.

"Raven…" Natsu barely got out, "not Gray."

"What are you talking about, Natsu? Who's Raven?" Mirajane asked, concerned.

"…Gray," Natsu mumbled, as though she should've understood even before he'd started talking, "Raven."

It was followed by a little more of rough conversation before Cana interrupted, "he means we have to call him Raven, Mira. Gray doesn't want everyone to know it's him, obviously. He's always been a proud guy."

"Right," Mirajane said, "don't worry Natsu, we'll figure it all out after you've gotten some sleep. It was light outside in the meanwhile, early, still, but light when they entered the guild's infirmary. Passing a couple of doors before Porlyusica opened one and everyone rushed inside. Natsu barely remembered getting in the room before he had fallen asleep in the soft sheets of the bed he was assigned to.

* * *

He woke up with a gasp the next morning, the blackness of sleep seeping away from his eyes like the blackness from Gray's intestines had seeped down his skin before.

Fussing, he looked around, only settling when his eyes crossed the feminine form of Gray. He laid peacefully on the bed beside him, seemingly asleep. He was washed clean of all the black rubbish, and dressed in a hospital gown for as far as Natsu could see. The silky waterfalls of bluish raven sprawled across his pillow and over his shoulders and a light blanket was pulled up to just below his breasts, his pale arms laid on top of them, a tube attached to each.

Natsu shuffled out from underneath his blankets, giving himself a once over to realize he did not get the same wash-up and change as Gray'd gotten, not that he cared, of course. But he was still smeared in Gray's black chemical vomit.

He'd yet to set a foot on the ground when the door opened and a sleepy-looking Mirajane came in, "Oh, Natsu, good morning… are you up already?"

"What time is it?" Natsu asked instead, "how long have I slept?" then he shook his head, disregarding his own questions, "how's Gray?"

Mira looked at the steaming mug she was holding in her hands and with a sigh she brought it over to Natsu, "here," she said with a kind smile, "this should soothe you."

Natsu grasped the mug in two hands and sipped it, hoping that following instructions like a good boy would grant him answers from Mirajane.

The woman nodded in approval, "good." She softly nudged Natsu back into his bed and the pink followed after one last longing gaze at the sleeping beauty beside him. Mira sat next to him on the bed. "You've only slept for a couple of hours, it's not even noon yet. Porlyusica and Cana just went to bed, we've all stayed up all morning to take care of… Gray," she ended with a reassuring smile and as much as Natsu realized she hadn't closed her eyes all night either, he couldn't be bothered. He kept his eyes trained on her, waiting for Gray's diagnosis.

Turning towards the pink a little more, Mirajane fought the tired a little more; "here's the deal, Natsu; the drug that Gray was given is actually a forbidden poison. It used to be a mere party drug for townspeople, but when the magic council found out what happened when the drug was taken by mages, it was banned with the highest punishment."  
"What happens when a mage takes it?" Natsu urged.

"The black liquid," she brought her hand absentmindedly to Natsu chest, where one of the dark smears remained, "it's liquefied ethernano. When the drug comes in contact with ethernano, the ethernano turns into the goo Gray threw up, and starts flooding the intestines. Porlyusica used a flushing medicine to get all traces of ethernano out of his body." She looked at Natsu to find a trace of understanding.

"Does that mean that Gray… cannot do any magic?"

* * *

**AN:**

Sorry it's short, I figured I'd just give you one on my half-hour commute to school, so here you go. By the way, for those who read the last chapter and were confused by the fact that I mentioned Naruto like 3 times, I'm very sorry, the chapter has been updated. Sometimes I just mix up Naruto and Natsu and no matter how many times I read over it I didn't notice until someone kindly pointed it out to me.


	5. Memories of Laughter

**Chapter 5: Memories of Laughter**

_"Does that mean that Gray… cannot do any magic?"_

Mirajane averted her eyes for a second but bravely looked back up at Natsu, "right now, that is the least of our problems. The sudden lack of magic has caused Gray's body to go into shock. There's also been some complications with Gray's temperature returning to human levels."

"Will he get better?" Natsu whispered, his eyes fluttering past Mirajane and onto the raven.

Mirajane nodded, "Porlyusica says that is up to him, but I sure believe in Gray."

Natsu nodded in agreement, "I do, too."

"Now, go grab a shower, Natsu, because you're covered in liquid ethernano and the smell of it is making my even my Satan Soul cringe. I'll stay here with Gray until you're washed up."

Natsu nodded and moved out of the bed and over to the bathroom attached to the infirmary. If he listened closely, he could hear the voices of some early morning guild visitors in the main hall downstairs. He hoped none of them had told the others about Gray's identity, Gray didn't want that.

The boiling water against his flesh felt invigorating. His muscles calmed under the raining droplets and he felt the pain of muscle strain and exhaustion fade away as he massaged his sore biceps. He ran his hands over his chest too, coloring the water dark gray and even black when he washed the dirtier stains off. As the colored shower water washed down the drain in a miniature whirlpool, Natsu couldn't help but imagine that it was Gray's magic going down the drain below his feet. Of course, he didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew that ethernano was the source of all standard magic forms and that a wizard needed it to perform magic. A sudden depletion of magic could lead to deficiency syndrome, something Natsu had witnessed once before when Gajeel and Juvia's old teammate used his magic on Makarov. Deficiency syndrome can present itself in numerous ways, in many, it can be deadly. He'd heard once that that was the case with Lucy's mother, though he wasn't familiar with the details.

Although he felt like he could stay in the shower forever, his thoughts about Gray's well-being led to him wanting to check up on his teammate, so when he couldn't find any traces of Gray's vomit on his skin anymore and the water didn't color grey when he ran his hands through his hair, he turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower, quickly changing into some sweatpants that the infirmary always had ready before even drying off his hair a little. He stepped into the room, hoping but also fearing that in his absence something had changed with Gray. When his eyes fell upon the sleeping beauty, however, it showed he was as motionless as he was when Natsu left. He was breathing, though, and that was important.

Mira was sitting beside Gray's head on the bed, leaning her back against the wall at the head of the bed and running her hands through Gray's long silky locks whilst quietly humming a song that seemed vaguely familiar to Natsu. She looked exhausted more than anything.

"What's that song?" Natsu asked, hoping to keep her distracted a little.

She looked up from Gray's peacefully sleeping face and stopped humming. "Oh, hello, Natsu, did the shower help?" Typical Mira, always caring about others first.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better, thank you." It might nog have been a total lie, but it still felt as such. He wasn't going to feel better unless Gray woke up now and froze Natsu's ass of with that magic of his, only to scold him or fight him after with Gray's never ending spirit; the very reason why Natsu and Gray got along so well, or didn't, but that just depends on how you categorize the fighting. Natsu himself loved it, it gave him a way to blow off some steam. The friendly banter was a good way to pass time and their own way to tell each other they care. Gray pushed him to go to the extremes in ways no-one else could and it helped him explore his own powers. Due to all of their fights, Natsu knew that Gray also knew him the best of all his friends, even better than Lucy and possibly even better than Happy.

He sat down in the same fashion as Mira on Gray's other side and looked at him endearingly, although he kept his fingers to himself where Mira didn't shy away from running her fingertips across Gray's cheekbones and jawline. Then again, maybe that was more out of curiosity for his bodily change then anything else. "He does have some odd ways to show his loyalty to the guild, doesn't he?" She said, confirming Natsu's suspicions on Mirajane's musings. "He didn't have to do it."

"He knows that," Natsu said with a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips, "but he's a self-sacrificing asshole."

Mirajane chuckled lightly and sighed, fondness apparent in her demeanor, "he is, isn't he?" There was a silence where Natsu mentally agreed and then she spoke up again, "remember when he pretended to have abandoned the guild?"

Natsu frowned and thought, nothing coming to mind at the moment.

"With that woman," she hinted, "was it Daphne? She was obsessed with dragons."

The name clicked in Natsu's head and his mouth fell in shock, before it pulled up into a smile, "I remember." He also remembered why Gray did that. He did that because Natsu had made a promise to the people of a village once that he had forgotten about, and Gray was making sure he kept it. His heart skipped a beat at the thought and his eyes dropped back down to the the flawless skin and long lashes and pink-ish lips and this time he couldn't help himself as his fingers fluttered across those lips.

They sat in content silence for a minute longer before Mirajane sat up with a groan, "well, I'll just head downstairs, I have drinks to cook and food to pour." She stuck out her tongue at him at her purposely misspoken words and moved to sit up.

"No," Natsu said, laying a hand onto her arm, "you should lay down for a couple of minutes, I'll check on the guild." He definitely wasn't the cook Mirajane was and all, but the guild could manage without her for an hour, right?

Mirajane looked at him questioningly for a minute, "you don't have to, Natsu. I can-."

"You've done enough," Natsu said as he jumped out of the bed, stretching his limps and strolling over to the infirmary closet to find a shirt to wear, he actually found one of his own vests -which wasn't too much of a surprise since he was a regular at the infirmary- and pulled it on, reaching out to put his scarf over his shoulders, only to realize he didn't know where it was.

Mirajane had seen and recognized the motion and spoke up; "you came home without it, Natsu, did you leave it at the hotel?"

Then Natsu remembered they had a formal event the night before, to which he wasn't allowed to wear his scarf, "no biggie, I'll just go and get it when Gray wakes up." He smiled at her reassuringly, trying to convince her that the chill around his neck didn't bother him. With one last long look on Gray, he was going to walk out. Just before he did, however, he turned around once more to look at Mirajane, "Raven Mika, we saved her from the target. Gray stayed behind to finish the mission whilst I got her to a doctor."

Mirajane merely nodded.

The guild was quite full with customers already, but then again, many of them came in for breakfast or lunch and it was around noon, so it wasn't too odd. Natsu greeted those who sat at the bar and took some orders. Apologizing in advance for his mediocre cooking skills.

He knew people would ask where Mirajane was, it's why he made sure to think up a story before he went down. So, like he told Mab and then Macao and Romeo, and Vijeeter and Jet and Droy after that; Gray and Natsu had gone on a job to find the man that abducted and drugged women at parties, the man was so stealthy, however, that they only saw him when it was too late, he'd already taken Raven. When they found the house that he took her to, the target had left Raven bound to the bed, but bolted, himself. After checking up on Raven, Gray and Natsu agreed that Natsu would take her to the guild while Gray followed the target. Raven was resting up upstairs.

"Woah," Levy said, as she walked in on him telling the story to her two best friends, "is she going to be okay?"

Natsu nodded as he poured a drink for Lucy, whom he just saw entering the guild. "She was lucky that Porlyusica happened to be here, she might not have survived otherwise, the drug was flooding her systems with black goo."

Levy frowned at that information and Natsu inwardly scolded himself for giving too much information, Levy probably read about every drug in the book and if she found out the black goo was liquid ethernano, it wouldn't take long for her to realize Gray didn't actually stay behind.

"I'm not familiar," she said, then shrugged, "I hope she feels better soon, though." She smiled genuinely and Natsu smiled back at her, handing the drink he'd made to Lucy, who joined them.

"Thanks, Natsu, what are you doing behind the bar?" she questioned, then she paused, "wait, aren't you supposed to be on a mission with Gray?" And not for the last time that morning, Natsu relayed the story.

It wasn't until an hour and a half later, when Cana and Porlyusica came in through the door, that Natsu excused himself to go back to the infirmary with them. Kinana had come in by that time and shooed at him as she took his place behind the bar.

They found both Mirajane and Gray asleep in the infirmary, Mirajane on the bed beside Gray, on the other side from where Natsu had slept that night –a good choice, since that bed was still black with vomit and drenched in sweat.

None of the three even suggested waking the platinum haired girl as they moved to stand on either sides of Gray's bed, Porlyusica on one side and Gray and Cana on the other. Natsu told them, upon Cana's request, what had happened that night, and after that he told them what Gray's cover story was. "Raven Mika," he ended.

"Pretty name, suits him," Cana said as she crossed her arms over her chest, hugging her barely clad bosom. "So, hit it, doc."

Her command towards Porlyusica was rewarded with a glare that would have had Laxus and Erza cowering in the corner. But the medic answered nonetheless. "His body is getting used to the temperature, that's a good thing. There's still no trace of ethernano in his body, which is worrysome, I suspect his reserves might start building up again when he wakes up. Overall his heart rate and blood pressure have improved, and his fever seems to have gone down. His breathing is normal. He must be a strong young man for his body to fight the deficiency trauma so effectively, it's like his body adapted almost immediately."

"That makes sense," Cana said, before Natsu could even open his mouth, "after all, his cold body temperature wasn't a side effect of his magic, right?" he looked at Natsu for confirmation, "it was how Ur thought his body to adapt to the circumstances."

Natsu nodded, remembering how Gray told them all how Ur had them train in the nude outside during snow storms. "Yeah, he has a very high immune system." He couldn't help but let the pride echo in his voice.

"I can see." She checked a couple more things before sighing and crossing her arms over her chest, "I need to get back home to my study, but I think you're going to be alright in here." She opened her bag and took out a vial that had a cork on it. "I want one of you to check his temperature and heart rate every half hour, write them down on this pad." She pointed at a notepad that laid on the nightstand, "his temperature is still wildly fluctuating, it needs to be constant for at least an hour. If his temperature constant and his heart beat gets within range of an actual living being, then you can wake him up." She looked both of them in his eyes. "If you choose to do so, you can do it with this potion," she slowly shook the vial before continuing her instructions: "everyone in the room must cover their noses except Gray, before you take the cork off. The chemicals in the odor will jumpstart his brain activity. Close the lid immediately after he shows signs of waking up and make sure you have some water ready for when he needs it. He will need it, I flushed every last bit of his intestines." She waited for them, maybe for questions, maybe for looks of understanding or confusion, maybe for nods or whatever. But both of them looked at her blankly.

"I'm leaving the life of this boy in your hands, kids, I need to know you understand."

Cana and Natsu exchanged a look, feeling the weight of the task on their shoulders. Where Natsu stayed silent, hoping and wishing she'd understand that he wanted her to stay and take care of Gray, Cana spoke up: "we understand."

"I'll be back in a couple days to check on him." She said as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her before either of the two mages could ask anymore questions.

"Alright," Cana said, she laid her hand atop Gray's forehead, but pulled it away immediately after, "God, that's not normal." She looked at Natsu, who returned the stare curiously, and put her hand on his forehead next.

"What are you doing?" He asked, "I'm not sick." He moved to pull away her hand, but her concerned look towards the raven on the bed made him halt his actions, his hand stopping mid air.

Instead of answering Natsu's question, she moved the hand off his forehead and instead wrapped her fingers around Natsu's floating wrist, "here, feel for yourself." She moved his hand until it was right above Gray's forehead. Natsu looked at her uncertainly before he softly placed his hand onto Gray's glistening skin. Suddenly Natsu understood Cana's need to compare his temperature to Gray's; Gray was burning hot, as in, hot like fire, hotter than Natsu.

Natsu spotted a bucket by the other side of the bed and moved around Gray to get it, there was a washcloth inside and Natsu suspected it to be for the exact reason he was going to use it. He sniffed the water, just to check if it wasn't anything weird, but it was just water. He quickly prepared one washcloth to lay it over Gray's forehead, and when he turned to the other two he found that Cana had already pulled the blankets off of him, draping them over the end of the bed. She held out her hand and Natsu handed the washcloth to her without any questions. She started dabbing the cold water onto his neck on both sides and then down on his collarboneand her hand disappeared into the collar of his shirt so that she could cool down his chest a little. A blush rose to Natsu's cheek at the thought of what was underneath the shirt, but Cana's head was somewhere else entirely, because she quickly stopped the motion and handed the cloth back to Natsu.

Natsu took the silent instruction and wetted the cloth again, before handing it back to Cana, still dripping. This time she did wipe his forehead and cheeks and temples and then she moved the washcloth down Gray's arms and squeezed some water out of it on Gray's wrist.

"That should do for now." Cana said as she gave Natsu the washcloth back, "The wench said his temperature fluctuates, so we shouldn't cool him down too much or he'll catch a cold when it drops."

Natsu nodded in understanding, or maybe just to show her he heard, like a soldier saluting their commander.

A loud yawn pulled their attention to the other bed. Behind Natsu laid Mirajane, propped up on her elbows and eyebrows knitted together in curiosity and worry, "hi, guys. How's Gray?"

Natsu smiled at her, she looked a lot better now that she'd had some rest, "he's going to be fine. How are you?"

She sat up in the bed, blankets pooling around her midriff, showing that she was wearing her regular dress under it. "A lot better," she said with a smile, "did you manage, downstairs?"

Natsu nodded, "yeah, few complaints but I didn't set any fires so I'm counting my wins. Kinana took over."

"Oh, that's good. Thank you, Natsu." She swung her legs off the bed and ran her eyes over Gray, "he's a cute girl."

Both Natsu and Cana choked and started coughing, Natsu went beet red, remembering all the similar thoughts he'd had the night before.

Cana on the other hand started laughing after she'd regained her breath, "yeah, I guess you're right. He's pretty damn cute."

* * *

**AN:**

Three times sorry: first, this is the unedited version, I fucked up and tried to save the edited one without internet so I had to do it again and I'm lazy so yeah. Second, this is a really boring chapter, what with Gray knocked out and all. He's going to wake up next chap I promise so I hope that will be better. Third, I realize Natsu is a little OOC, I'm going to just write it up to him feeling confused, scared, worried and guilty at the same time and not at all bad writing (*wink wink*), I will try to do better next time on him.  
Anyways, as always: comment my sweet readers, comments really inspire me to write more and update!


	6. Laughter Again

**Chapter 6: Laughter Again**

It was nearly eight o'clock that evening when Mirajane tapped Natsu on his shoulder, he'd been sitting at their regular table with Lucy, Wendy, Carla and Happy for the last fifteen minutes, since Wendy and the exceeds had come in. "It's almost 8, Natsu," she said sweetly, "should we go see if Raven is ready to wake up?"

Natsu blinked at her and jumped out of his seat. Gray'd had a constant temperature for the last two check-ups and this check would make the hour Porlyusica had recommended. He'd been constant for two checkups before but had never reached a third so far. Natsu and Mirajane kept hoping, though. Cana had taken a minor job earlier that afternoon, right after she'd left a fresh set of clothes for him in the room. Although Gray's figure resembled Mirajane's a little more, none of the three of them could imagine the stripper wearing her conservative clothes. However, although Cana's wardrobe resembled Gray's clothing taste a little more, her sets of bra's weren't going to cut it for him either. He couldn't go around showing off the guildmark on his boob. Eventually she had found him an old haltered crop top that had a high collar. It would show off skin so that Gray wouldn't feel too confined, but it would cover his chest so that he wouldn't feel to awkward either. Of course she got him a pair of all-green-camo cargo pants, because Gray wasn't going to wear a skirt.

"Can I come with?" Wendy asked, "I could check up on her if you want, see if she's healthy?"

Natsu looked at Mirajane, not as adapt to lying or making up quick and convincing excuses as she was.

Luckily, Mirajane was smart enough to reply before the silence became suspicious: "thank you, Wendy, but that's alright. We know what to do and let's keep in mind that she was quite traumatized, we don't want to spook her when she wakes up."

"Oh," Wendy said, "alright, well, call me when you need anything."

Mirajane nodded politely before leading Natsu to the back door, up the stairs and into the infirmary. Not much had happened with Gray that afternoon. He'd caused panics with his extreme temperatures a couple more times but nothing they couldn't fix with a bucket of water or an extra blanket. Other than that the day had been uneventful: his heart rate had gone mostly back to normal, only spiking together with the temperature fluctuations.

He looked uneventful now, too, laying still in the bed, like a true sleeping beauty; peaceful, tranquil. Even before they took the thermometer, Mirajane had laid a hand upon Gray's cheek and then moved it to his forehead, "he feels normal."

The sentence sparked a bit of hope within Natsu as he readied the thermometer.

Mirajane struggled only a little bit to pry her thumb and index finger between Gray's pretty pink lips and under his tongue. The ease had come with the practice, because no matter how many times they'd done it that day, neither Cana nor Mirajane ever let Natsu put his fingers in Gray's mouth. Not that he'd asked, but he would've done it if he needed to. Cana had made an offhand comment one of the first times that Gray wouldn't want him to do it and Natsu understood that.

Natsu handed her the thermometer and stared intently at Gray's face, somewhat waiting for him to make some sort of movement, as you would expect from someone who was asleep. But he wasn't really asleep, Natsu knew that. Mirajane had explained that, in order to allow Gray's body to fix itself, Porlyusica had put him in some sort of semi-comatose. Cana had whacked him across the head when he hadn't understood and said that it costs Gray too much energy to fight off the poison, the sleep was used to conserve energy. It's why they needed the odd vial that Porlyusica had given them to wake him up.

After a short, pregnant silence, Mirajane sighed happily, "37, still perfect!" She smiled at Natsu, although Natsu couldn't help but feel a little deflated at that.

37 wasn't perfect. It might've been for Mirajane and Cana and all the rest of the world. But not for Gray. 37 meant that Gray still didn't have his Ice magic.

When he looked upon Mirajane's smiling face, however, he couldn't help but feel a little infected by her enthusiasm, and cracked a smile. Then, when she whispered "let's wake up Raven Mika!" and showed him the vial, his heart started pounding a little faster and he couldn't help but look forward to having Gray back in his life, he hadn't even begun to worry yet about the problems that would come after Gray woke up, like the fact that he was still in female form; he had no magic; the charm was still somewhere in that god forsaken village; so was the target which still hadn't been caught and was still a danger to society. Although, Natsu had been told that when he was sleeping in the morning, Cana and Mirajane had gone to see Makarov to explain the situation to him. Makarov had in turn contacted the mayor of the village and told her about what happened without giving her all the details. He did tell her about how the drug was poisonous for mages and asked her to contact another guild for the job and inform them about that bit too. Makarov hadn't come into the infirmary, yet. Maybe he was busy. Who knew.

Natsu didn't have time to think of all that when Mirajane held the vial out to him, "pinch your nose, Natsu." Her voice sounded nasal, which was logical, because she was pinching her nose just like she instructed Natsu to do. With the index and thumb of his left hand he closed his nostrils, and with those of the other hand he grasped the cork on the vial which Mirajane still held. Both only having one hand meant that hey needed to unscrew the cork together. Luckily they had dealt with worse things in life and the cork was off quickly without spilling any of the potion. Mirajane held the vial close to Gray's nose, hoping to get the reaction going quicker.

It took longer than they expected. They started doubting that maybe nothing was going to happen at all.

But after a couple of minutes, Gray's eyelids moved and he swallowed and then they could hear a whimper as soft as a whisper. Mirajane and Natsu quickly put the lid back on the vial and released their noses, coming up on either sides of Gray to help him.

After a few more seconds, Gray's eyelids cracked open, though they closed immediately after to shield away the retinas from the blinding light.

"Gray? Gray, are you okay?" Natsu said. He didn't want to touch Gray, or he wanted to but he didn't know he should, so he waited until Mirajane did it first. She didn't.

"Gray, honey, it's us. Mirajane and Natsu." She said softly, "how do you feel?"

Gray's pink lips parted slightly to exhale a raspy breath and then he opened his eyes a little so that he could look at them through his thick lashes. Slowly but surely, his hand moved up towards his chest, and then his throat, shaking all the way to it. He laid his slender fingers on his throat and heaved his eyes up to Natsu, letting out another raspy breath.

"His throat!" Natsu said, jumping out of his seat, "we forgot the water!"

Mirajane slapped both hands over her mouth in shock as Natsu scrambled around the room to find something to pour some water in. "Oh, Gray, honey!" she said, running her fingers along Gray's hairline. "We're so sorry!"

Natsu came back with a mug filled with tap water and a straw he found in the cabinets. He held the mug as close as he could without pouring the water all over Gray and guided the straw to his lips. Gray closed his lips around it and his eyes slipped closed as he kept drinking until the mug was empty.

"How do you feel, Gray?" Mirajane asked again, hoping that after hydrating, Gray would find his voice again.

Gray opened his blues again, this time focused on Mirajane, "f-fine," he said, "t-tar…" he tried, his throat still too sore. Mirajane just looked at him confused while Natsu got some more water. "j-j-job." He stated.

"We gave the job to another guild, honey. Your wellbeing was our priority."

"U-." he stopped trying to talk and instead tried to move. His muscles protested but he was getting there slowly, "up."

Mirajane hooked her hands under Gray's shoulders and pulled him up and backwards on the bed so that he could sit against the wall, she propped a pillow up under his back. There was a small pause where Gray downed another mug of water. Somewhere along the way of sitting up and drinking, Gray's eyes had fallen on his body and he'd noticed that nothing had changed yet and although his friends could clearly see the way he slumped in on himself, it didn't seem like he was going to bring it up himself.

"Gray, you-." Mirajane started, not quite knowing what to say but feeling like it should be brought up anyway.

"I know," he said instead, his voice was still soft but it was stronger than before, talking still seemed to hurt, however. "I'm still a girl and I don't have any magic."

Mirajane breathed in to answer, "you-." But yet again, the boys didn't let her speak, as this time it was Natsu who intervened.

"We'll fix it." There wasn't any room for doubt in his statement, "we'll fix it." He repeated, this time with a little more compassion, "but your health is our priority."

Gray nodded, his face void of anything that could give away his emotions, though both Mirajane and Natsu could take a calculated guess on how he felt. His magic meant a lot to Gray, they knew that. It wasn't just his fighting chance he cared about, maybe it wasn't even his turning back to a boy that took up his thoughts. Magic, to Gray, had always been a way in which he felt connected to his mentor Ur, who had sacrificed her life to save his when he was little. It was the only thing he'd had that was hers. Like the only thing he'd had left of his parents was…

Gray realized it at the same time Natsu did, as Gray reached up to his neck, feeling around his empty pale chest for the necklace both knew wasn't going to be there. "I…"

"You took it off for the dance, it must still be at the hotel room." Natsu said, "I'll go back tomorrow for your stuff and the charm, alright?"

Gray nodded, then looked at Mirajane, "can I get out of bed?"

"I suppose," Mirajane said, she gestured to the pile of clothes Cana had left, "you should change out of your hospital gown before you go down, however." And when he gave his stamp of approval, Mirajane quickly ushered Natsu out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Natsu waited outside impatiently, it took longer than it should have just to change, but that was understandable given Gray's conditions. When the door finally opened, it got Natsu's full attention.

He was as beautiful as Natsu remembered, even more so, in his opinion, without all the dress-up. He liked his women bad-ass after all. The Cargo pants didn't hug his hips and legs like the dress had done, but it rode so low on his hips that it showed off the v-line that Natsu remembered Gray had had, too. The ends of the pants were tucked into a pair of black leather army boots. Natsu couldn't help but love the halter top he had been given. It was white and started just below Gray's luscious breasts, tight enough to show the strain the full bosom gave it and high enough to showcase Gray's slim waist and flat stomach. It covered his breasts, cleavage and especially guildmark like it was supposed to, but left Gray's still muscular, though elegant, arms and shoulders in view. Gray's long navy hair was put up in a high ponytail, strands of hair left lose to frame his face. His face… his face was void of any make-up except for a tad of mascara which Mirajane seemed to have put on him. His dark eyes and pink lips were set in a scowl.

"What are you staring at, flame brain?" He glared as he blew a strand of hair out of his face in annoyance, "for your information, our earlier agreement on laughter still stands."

Natsu quickly swallowed a comeback, thinking about the threat to his penis and put a smirk on his face instead. "No, I was just thinking you look bad-ass."

"I am bad-ass." He said defiantly, not willing to give Natsu the win just yet, "no matter what form, I'll still kick your ass."

Natsu let out a low appreciative growl, he was definitely in for a good fight, and stepped closer to Gray, "what was that? Princess?"

Gray leaned into him as well, so close that now, Natsu could most definitely smell the difference between the old Gray and this Gray. He still had that same winter-y smell, like fresh snow and cinnamon and maybe a hint of peppermint. Yet there was a tinge of refinement to it that used to be roughness. Maybe it was just the lavender soap that Mirajane used on him. Or the absence of the cologne Gray used to wear. Or maybe it was something else intirely.

"You will not fight." Mirajane said sternly, wrapping her hand around Gray's upperarm from behind pulling him back slightly, only to create a distance between fire and ice. "Not when Gray can hardly stand on his feet."

The first thing Natsu noticed when she said that was the blush that colored Gray's cheeks and the aversion of her navy blues. Then his gaze travelled down Gray's strong arms, only lingering for a second at his slayer mark, before they came to a rest at the crutches that supported him, "oh."

Gray quickly moved out of the doorway and into the hall next to Natsu, purposefully banging into him with his shoulder, despite the fact that it almost threw him off balance.

Natsu moved out of the way for him, or tried to, and Mirajane closed the door behind them.

"Now, before we go down stairs, let's get our stories straight. Natsu, what have you been telling everybody?"

"Well, I told everyone that me and Gray were at the party, looking for the culprit, when we heard lots of commotion by the bar. We'd met Raven earlier when we were asking around a little, which is how I got to lock in on her scent. So we followed them out to his apartment, but he'd bolted before we got there. We found her bound to the bed and throwing up black goo. We quickly decided that she needed medical attention so I brought her back home and Gray went after the culprit." He looked over at Gray, checking to see if he agreed with the story. It was easy for him to tell it like that because calling Gray Raven was almost as if it hadn't actually happened to Gray. As if it was a made up situation that happened to a made up person.

But looking at Gray, he could see that the other thought very differently about that. He was looking away, leaning heavily on his crutches and biting his lower lip. Natsu though he almost seemed ashamed. He felt his heart pull at the thought.

"That sounds about right." He whispered softly before straightening up, "let's get to it."

"Hold up," Natsu said, but he looked at Mirajane instead of at Gray, "how do we cover up his mark? You got some make-up for that or something?"

Mirajane sighed and her eyes fell upon Gray's arm, "Maybe with the help of someone who's good at doing make-up. Maybe Evergreen or something, Lucy, possibly, or Bisca. But I don't suppose you'd want any of them to know, do you?"

Natsu, however looked elated, "Lucy wouldn't mind, you could ask her!"

Gray just replied to that with a horrified expression before he put his attention back on Mirajane, "any other ideas?"

"Well, we could cover it up with a jacket, or something else, maybe arm protectors or something, if you don't want to wear a jacket. Or we can just draw on the rest of your arm, just make it a sleeve-tattoo." She counted the ideas on her fingers.

Gray bit on the inside of his cheek, not particularly enthusiastic about any of those, but clearly realizing that he was, indeed, running out of options.

Natsu looked around, as if more ideas would just be written out on the walls around him. Eventually, his eyes fell on his own hands, "bandages!" he held up his right hand, showing off the bandages that he knew secretly hid the mark of Igneel's power. The others didn't know that, of course, but it didn't take away from the good idea. "If anyone's curious about it, we can just say I accidentally scorched you in my hurry to get you home, or something."

"Well, at least it's credible." Gray snickered, lightening up a little.

His smile sparked a similar one on Natsu and he skipped back into the infirmary to grab a roll of bandage and a pair of scissors.

Familiar with the motion on himself he quickly wrapped the bandage around Gray's hands, wrist and underarms, covering his knuckles and the base of his fingers for security. He cut off the access and tucked the end underneath the edge of the wrap. He took Gray's other wrist, nearly tearing it off the crutch in his enthusiasm, making Gray stumble and making Mirajane latch onto Gray's waist in support. "What the heck, Sulfur Breath?"

"Look, it's just less weird if you do both." He quickly wrapped up the other hand the same way and stepped back proudly to look at his art, "yup, all done."

Gray leaned on his right crutch and held his left bandaged arm up to look at it appreciatively. There was a moment of silence in which Natsu and Mirajane both allowed Gray to mentally prepare himself. Until Gray grabbed his crutch and hopped away from Mirajane's grasp. There was some struggle getting down the stairs, because Gray stubbornly insisted he would do it himself, but they got there.

* * *

**AN: **

Well, he woke up and he. is. HAWT. So if anyone wants to draw Raven Mika I would love that, just PM me a link! I feel like Natsu is becoming a little more Natsu so that's good.  
Next chapter Gray'll be 'meeting' the guild, that should be fun. Also, I need your opinion, guys. I have like minor smut planned (honestly it's just Natsu getting hard and the implication of him masturbating in the shower), I like writing smut but since I had planned for this to be a clean fic, I just want to know if I should take that part out or just go with it but keep it low, or if you even want me to write a full-on smut scene, just let me know what you think. Thanks!


	7. Friendly Laughter

**Chapter 7: Friendly Laughter**

_There was some struggle getting down the stairs, because Gray stubbornly insisted he would do it himself, but they got there._

Mirajane walked into the hall first, holding open the door for Gray, Natsu followed right behind.

"Natsu!" Lucy hopped out of the seat Natsu'd left her at earlier and walked over to them, followed by happy. "You must be Raven!" she said, looking Gray over with genuine concern in her eyes, "how do you feel?"

Gray stammered a bit, unsure of how to reply, he looked at Natsu, who gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm fine," his voice still sounded like shit and he could see that Lucy noticed it by the way she winced when he spoke, "thanks...-"

"Lucy." She smiled kindly, "I look forward to getting to know you!"

"Right, Lucy," Gray smiled back at her, "yeah, me too."

"I'm Happy!" Happy said as he spread his wings to fly up to Gray's level.

"Well, I'm happy, too, I suppose." Gray joked, though he knew that the others would think he meant it.

Happy looked confused for a second before he spoke again, "no, my name is Happy."

"Oh," Gray said, feigning embarrassment, "then I'm Raven."

"Are you a mage, Raven?" Happy asked, probably already having forgotten about the mix up, "you look strong."

Gray choked on his breath and Natsu coughed at the same time, that was still a sensitive subject. "N-no," he said, but recovered quickly, "no, I'm not a mage. I used to want to be one, though. Never got around to it."

"Then why are you so strong?" He asked stubbornly, landing on Natsu's shoulder.

"I, um…" he was never that good at improv, "I teach a boxing class back home?"

Happy frowned, unsatisfied with the answer, "then why…"

"Happy, that's enough, she just woke up." Natsu quickly interrupted, saving Gray from further interrogation."

"Aye, sir!" He saluted to Natsu, "come sit with us, Raven!"

Gray smiled, first at Happy and then at Natsu, grateful for the save. He hopped over to the table and gratefully accepted Levy's offer to take the crutches from him so that he could lower himself onto the bench. Levy stashed the crutches underneath the seats where no-one could trip over them.

"How do you feel, Raven? I'm Levy, by the way." The blunette said, she kept standing at the head of the table by Gray's side whilst Natsu and Lucy slid into the seats next to Gray and Wendy.

"Thanks for the help, Levy." He said politely, "I'm alright, I just feel like I got hit by a horse-led carriage after running a marathon."

She chuckled, "certainly doesn't sound like you're fine."

Gray grinned at her in a way that Natsu thought looked a suspicious amount like his old grin, for a second he feared that maybe Levy would recognize him, she helped hex the charm, after all, and she was smart enough to figure such things out. "Believe me, Levy," he said, and Natsu thought he'd never get used to that feminine voice, "I've had hangovers worse than this."

Levy laughed again and made room for Mirajane, who held out a tray with drinks for everyone, she dropped a glass of ice tea in front of Gray and laid out two candies with.

"This will be really cold, but it's good for your sore throat." She winked at him with a smile and he smiled back, that sure was a good excuse for him to drink his iced drinks the way he likes them; freezing cold.

"Thanks, Mira... jane," he quickly added, trying not to sound like he'd known Mirajane for years. He took a sip of his drink and popped one of the candies into his mouth, sucking on it happily. Then he looked at Carla and Wendy, who sat across from him, and smiled at them. He felt like Wendy was looking at him a little suspiciously and Natsu worried suddenly that she would smell that he was Gray. Gray had realized the same thing so decided to go all ooc. "Well aren't you a cutie," he hung a little over the table, getting on eye-height with Carla, "such a cute kittywitty. Gah! I could just eat you right up!"

Natsu snickered in his hand, knowing that Gray was mainly doing that because every sane person knew not to get too friendly with Carla. If Wendy had been suspicious, she must've thought he was either suicidal, or that he really was a she and she had been wrong about the scent.

Carla made an undignified sound and looked away, her nose high up in the air and with her posh little accent she said, "someone should school you on proper etiquettes, miss. That's just plain rude."

Wendy smiled at her exceed and then at Gray, all suspicion seemed to have slipped her mind: "hello, I'm Wendy! I'm a healer, so if you want me to take a look at those injuries I could check you up in a bit," she offered, polite and friendly, like Carla had thought her. Then she motioned towards the white, still offended, exceed, "and this is my best friend Carla."

"Hey Wendy, I like your hair color," his smile was unapologetically conspiring and Natsu realized he was trying to base their bond over their kinship in hair color, although his was still a couple shades darker than Wendy's. "And I'm sorry Cara if I offended you, I just love cats."

"It's Carla." The white exceed grumbled, but her manners forced her to accept his apology and look him in the eye. His dazzling smile made it impossible even for her to stay mad.

Wendy had blushed lightly at Gray's comment and run a finger to one of her long pigtails, "thanks, I like your hair, too!"

The conversation flowed quite fluently after that. Gray was, after all, an expert on diverting the topic off of himself and onto others. That's how he'd lived his life without ever giving his friends too much of a look into his past and that's how he kept them now from prying into his identity. With subtle questions he kept diverting the topic onto others and passing on questions to his neighbors.

"So," Levy asked, "where are you from, Raven?"

"Gah," Gray sighed in fake exasperation, "I wish I was from here, Magnolia seems great, do you all live here?"

And on they went.

Natsu wondered if after half an hour they still hadn't figured out they hadn't learned anything about Gray, yet. It caused a slight smile to form on his lips, even as a woman, Gray was still a cunning asshole.

A couple more minutes passed before Natsu dropped his hand on Gray's shoulder, who looked at him with his giant doe-eyes open in confusion, "how do you feel now, Raven?" Natsu asked.

Gray smiled at him, grateful for his concern, "alright, I suppose. My entire body feels exhausted and my muscles are all cramped up, but otherwise I'm good." He had at least rehydrated plenty, thanks to Mirajane's nonstop supply of iced drinks. His throat felt much better, too.

"How about we get something to eat and then get you back into a bed?" Mirajane said as she stopped by their table again, "we'll massage out your muscles and you can sleep a little more, rest up." She smiled encouragingly and Gray nodded.

Mirajane brought some food over to them a little later, it wasn't Gray's favorite food, but it was something Mirajane knew he liked to eat, so it wasn't too suspicious. She got Natsu a light snack while she was at it. Since it was around 9, he'd already had his dinner. Gray casually poked the food and calmly ate while the girls all chatted against him as if he was their new best friend and Natsu smiled about the fact that Gray had gotten everyone to like him that quickly.

After he'd eaten, Natsu took the crutches out from underneath the bench and handed them to Gray, pulling him up by his elbow whilst he steadied himself. Gray said goodbye to the girls and followed Natsu back to the infirmary. They bickered a bit more about how they were going to get up the stairs, until Natsu agreed to let Gray try by himself as long as Natsu got to walk behind so that he could catch his rival if he fell.

"Do you still feel weak?" Natsu asked as soon as they'd reached the top of the stairs. They slowly made their way to the infirmary and Gray went to sit down on the bed he'd slept in.

"Not really," Gray admitted, "my muscles just ache and my body's tired. Nothing a little sleep and a good massage won't fix."

"I can massage you, if you want? A little heat will help your muscles relax." Natsu offered. He didn't know why he said that, he hated giving massages, although his magic did help wonders on sore muscles.

Gray looked at him with one delicate and perfect eyebrow raised, clearly questioning ulterior motives to the offer. "You're not going to touch my butt or anything, are you?" He was pulling off his combat boots blindly while looking up at Natsu in question.

"B-bastard!" Natsu exclaimed, becoming flustered, "why would I want to touch your butt? Gross!" But he couldn't keep his eyes off said butt when Gray jumped off the bed again to shimmy the cargo pants down his legs.

"Fine," Gray said, snapping Natsu out of his daze, "but you gotta help me out of this top. How woman wrestle themselves out of these tight things is a mystery to me." He had his arms crossed over his chest, as though he was being stubborn, but his gaze was cast off to the side and a light pink hue had pulled over his nose and cheeks. His bottom lip stuck out in a cute pout.

Natsu's face turned pink itself at the sight, but he quickly shook it off. "Aw, little damsel in distress all tied up in her own clothes? Your prince charming is here, princess." He mocked, but he held his hands out to Gray, waving them to sign him to step a little closer.

Gray refused to make eye contact while he stepped closer and raised his arms above his head so that Natsu could grab the hem of the top.

Careful, either not to hurt her, or to keep himself in suspense of the next moment, he lifted the hem, slowly peeling it off Gray's breasts, revealing the white lacy bra and the guild mark on his bouncy mounts. There was a beautiful couple of seconds when Gray's sight was obscured by the fabric of the top and Natsu got to shamelessly look over his teammate's body. The white bra and panties left nothing to the imagination, and Natsu loved the way Gray hopped from one leg to the other to wiggle out of the shirt, making his boobs bounce playfully. Way too soon, Gray was freed from his confinements and hopped back on the bed, hissing through his lips at what Natsu assumed was the cold of the infirmary.

"Fuck, I haven't felt cold in a decade!" Gray groaned, "be useful for once and warm me up, will you, flame brain?" He turned around to lay on his stomach, but quickly decided that that wasn't comfortable and shoved a pillow under his stomach. Natsu got him a new pillow for his head before he rubbed his hands together.

"I'm only allowing you to boss me around this time because you're a sad case and I feel bad for you." Natsu warned, knowing in his heart that it was a lie, but he said nothing more as he placed his heated hands on Gray's shoulders and started kneading out the knots.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Gray sighed happily, "just don't stop." The order was followed by a loud moan when Natsu roughly pushed his fingers into one of the knots in his shoulders. He halted his actions immediately and Gray seemed to stop breathing, his eyes wide and his face bright red, mirroring the color of Natsu's face.

Natsu recovered the quickest –mentally, at least- and placed his hands back on Gray's shoulder with a loud chuckle, "am I making your pussy wet, Gray?"

"Shut up, asshole!" Gray could only reply as he closed his eyes. Over the course of the massage, Gray had started moaning more often, having forgotten about his inhibitions. Natsu hadn't spoken up about it anymore, but he'd noticed every single one of those moans, rocking through his body like earthquakes. He wasn't even nearly done with Gray's calves when he realized that something wasn't right. He looked down to find that his infirmary-supplied sweatpants had a quite noticeable tent in them.

"Ugh, Natsu, don't stop." Gray moaned and Natsu swallowed hard.

"D-don't moan my name like that, stupid!" he mumbled, though he wondered if it was even audible for Gray.

Apparently not, because Gray spoke up again, "that feels so good." Followed not even two seconds later with, "ah, yes, right there," and the cherry on top, "a little harder, deeper."

Natsu wondered if Gray was shitting him, but the male-turned-female seemed completely out of it, all the while Natsu's boner was starting to seriously ache. He moved over to Gray's other calf, leaning over Gray' a little more, causing his member to rub against the mattress.

Natsu let out a soft moan, barely able to keep himself in enough not to be noticed by Gray.

He looked over at his rival and saw that Gray seemed to have fallen asleep, he exhaled deeply and kept massaging Gray's calf whilst softly rubbing his member against the mattress. His face beat red in embarrassment and fear that Gray would wake up and beat his ass, but also not being able to help himself.

* * *

**AN: **

So I brought the smut down to a minimum, I hope y'all can live with that. To me it just symbolizes Natsu's body reacting to Gray, even if Natsu's mind isn't ready to accept his feelings just yet. Furthermore, I am terribly sorry for this taking as long as it did, I'm just... well I watched Voltron and I'm kind of all into that fandom at the moment. Writing fics and reading fics (Keithstan here). If you're into voltron let me know I might drop a fic on here.

Also, bit more fairy tail related. I've been working on a short story that came to me when I was watching the last season of FT (been keeping up so far) and I'm thinking of maybe posting a two-shot of DimariaxUltear called _Fleeting Moments_. The first shot would be Ultear describing her loneliness in the time rifts all by herself and just her thoughts and prayers and dreams and everything, it's a little dark but nothing too heavy, kind of poetic. The second shot would be Ultear finding out that every once in a while, for a few fleeting moments she's not alone in the time rift whenever Dimaria stops the time. It's about how Ultear, who's on the brink of losing her mind, falls in love with Dimaria because she is Ultear's only connection to reality.


	8. Is that pity in your laughter?

**Chapter 8: Is that pity in your laughter?**

The next morning, Natsu was excited to visit the guild hall, to see Gray again. Now, in all honesty he'd never actually _not _wanted to see Gray, they were best friends after all. Despite how it may appear some times with all the bickering and brawling. However, somehow Gray seemed even more bearable now, pleasant, even.

The Guild hall was calm when Happy and him entered, it usually was that early and during the week. Gray was already downstairs and sitting at a table with Cana, playing some card game. Cana seemed… sober? She was laughing at the other, too, though she clearly seemed tired. Natsu wondered if she had been worried about Gray while she was away.

"I'm gonna sit with Carla." Happy chimed as he ran off towards where the exceed sat on top of the bar talking to Lisanna.

"Sure thing, Happy." But Happy didn't hear. It was a good thing, for now, because without Happy, Natsu could openly talk to Gray. "Hey guys." He grinned at two and dropped down on the bench next to Gray. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine actually." Gray said, "little sore still, but your massage really helped. And so did a good night's sleep." He looked up to lock eyes with Natsu. "I don't think I've thanked you, yet. So, um…" he looked down at his hand of cards and took a moment, laying down two aces from which Cana took one and replaced it with a queen of hearts. Gray took both the cards back and put down a two, to which Cana put down two fours on her own side. "Thanks." It was almost inaudible. Natsu was sure he would've missed it if he wasn't secretly waiting for it.

"You would have done the same for me."

Gray smiled at him softly for a second, before he turned serious. "We have a problem, Natsu." Upon Natsu's frown, Gray showed him something underneath the table. It was the sword necklace he got from his father, the one he had left in the hotel room. Natsu's eyes widened and looked up at him, and then at Cana, who was holding Natsu's scarf out to him.

"That's…! Wait. A problem? How do you…? I don't get it."

"The charm, Natsu. It was supposed to still be in the hotel room, remember?" Gray rolled his eyes at him. A motion of deep blue that Natsu had to forcefully pull his attention away from. Even annoyed Gray was still the prettiest girl Natsu'd ever seen.

"I looked everywhere." Cana said. "I called Gray early this morning on my way home from my mission for your room number and the location of the charm. It wasn't there."

"That's okay." A new voice spoke up, making Natsu jump in panic, thinking someone had overheard their private conversation. False alarm, it was just Mirajane, who slid into the seat next to Cana. "The charm isn't the biggest problem. We can probably make a new one easily and if not, then it still has mine, Levy's and your magic signatures on it so it should be easy to locate. The thing is, we need to get your body strong enough to handle magic again, and then we need you to get your magic back. Before we do that, the charm won't be any good to us anyway."

That was a whole lot of bad things for it to start with 'that's okay'.

"It's just another reminder that nothing in this world can ever go right for me." Gray's slender fingers slammed the cards down on the table as he stood up angrily, "excuse me."

Three eyes followed Gray as he stomped across the room towards the exit, making a little detour for a pitstop at the table with Romeo, Macao and Wakaba. Natsu cringed as he could nearly smell the heart eyes coming off of Macao and could clearly see the blush rising on Romeo's cheeks. The conversation was short-lived, however, and Gray walked away from the group, pocketing something that Wakaba had given him.

Mirajane stood up before the guild hall doors had closed behind Gray, and would have run after him if it wasn't for Natsu, "wait." Mirajane blinked at him, worry and confusion clear as day on her face. "Just, don't fuss over him. Give him a moment. Don't forget that that's Gray out there, he doesn't want your pity, or your help for that matter. He just needs to wrap his head around what's happening and then find a distraction. If he wants to talk about his problems, he will."

Mirajane looked at him, then back at the door, and back at him. As though torn between listening to Natsu, who knew Gray best, and to her instinct, which just knew that Gray was hurt and alone right now. Eventually she sighed and nodded, "you're right. If Gray was in his own body, I would have known he doesn't want sympathy. He just wants action, solutions. So let's get him one." For a moment, Cana and Natsu just looked at her. "I'm going to the library to research deficiency syndrome, Lisanna's got the bar set for today anyway. Cana, you go take a nap or something, because you haven't slept, yet. After that we can go see if Porlyusica or Makaravo knows something. Natsu, you're in charge of Gray today. Make sure to distract him. Just, no fighting yet, his body is still not fully recovered."

"Yes, ma'am." Cana said at the same time as Natsu put his fingers to his forehead in a salute and said, "roger that."

The girls stood up and each went their own way. Natsu himself decided to follow his own advice and give Gray a moment for himself. He stood up and looked around for other friends to join. His own team sat at a table not too far away, all looking at him. He walked over to them and sat down. "Hey guys. Hey Erza, how was your solo?"

"It was fine. I heard about your mission with Gray, though. Are you guys alright?" Erza frowned at him. It gave Natsu a feeling of unease, maybe she realized something was wrong. What if she'd seen Gray and known it was him? What if she'd overheard them talking?

"Yeah, I guess. I'm going to check in with Gray at noon, see how he's doing. Makarov said he had some other mission Gray was requested for in the area so he'll take a little longer to get back. I'm more worried about Raven, the girl we rescued."

"Yeah," Lucy said. "She seemed alright yesterday. What got her so upset right now?"

Natsu sighed, if only she knew what got Gray so upset. If only they would understand. "Just some bad news on her recovery. It's going to take a little longer and Porlyusica wants her to stay with us for a while under close observation. We're going to set up a training schedule for her to get physically stronger so she can stomach the antitoxins a little better."

"Hm," Wendy said, with a little pout. "That's sad, she must be homesick."

Natsu nodded, not entirely lying, though he was thinking of another kind of homesick. Gray might be physically home, but he did not feel at home. He wasn't at home in his own body.

"She looks a little familiar, have I seen her before?" Erza asked, her eyebrows frowned, "I don't think I've heard her name before…"

Natsu's eyes widened a fraction. What in Mavis' name was she supposed to say to that? Luckily, Lucy beat him to it.

"Yeah, that's what Wendy and I thought, too. But then we realized she looks a lot like Gray's mentor's daughter, from Crime Sorcière. What was her name?"

"Ultear!" Natsu said with a smile, "yeah, that's what Gray and I thought, too, when we met her." Ofcourse, he looks like Ultear. Natsu had thought that too, hadn't he? Fierce and elegant, just like her. Just like Ur, too. Maybe Natsu should tell Gray about his resemblance, it might give this all a positive twist. He feels week and frail as a woman, after all. Maybe being reminded of the powerful women in his life will comfort him a little.

Erza didn't immediately seem convinced, but she shrugged it off. "I suppose they do resemble a little." Then she grinned broadly, "I can't wait to meet her when she feels a little better. I can help her train her body!"

"I'm sure Raven would appreciate that." He looked at the clock, it'd been about half an hour since Gray had stormed out, maybe it was time for him to follow. He stood up and smiled at the girls from his teams, "I'm going to make sure she's alright, see you later."

Natsu walked outside, wondering where Gray would have gone. There are obviously places he'd want to go. His house would be one of them, but he wouldn't be dumb enough to do that. He figured he'd just wander the city, see all the spots he thought Gray would go to. Unless of course, Gray could just be wandering himself.

Thirty minutes later Natsu found him, sitting in the last spot he checked that was on his list. The riverbank where the two of them used to fight all the time. It was a good spot, beautiful, peaceful. And nobody, except maybe Natsu, would connect it to Gray. If they'd ever seen him sitting there it would've meant nothing. Everyone could sit there every once in a while.

He approached carefully. Even more so when he realized what Gray was doing. Natsu had never seen Gray smoke in his life. Though legend had it he used to do it all the time. Back before they started doing lots of missions together. After that apparently he'd still smoked, or started again, because Natsu'd once overheard a heated fight between Gray and Cana and Loke, a little after Loke'd become Lucy's celestial spirit. He was smoking a while after the Tartaros mission, too, according to another scolding he'd overheard from Mirajane and Cana.

For the first time Natsu wondered why he'd never seen Gray smoke. Was it something he did in private? Or was it something he purposefully hid from Natsu. He would've known not to hide it from Natsu, though, because the pink could always smell the smoke clinging to his clothes. Maybe it was the kind of thing Gray did when he was upset, or depressed. Maybe it was like crying for others, something just for him that he did not want anyone else to see.

Natsu walked up to him, looking over his slim form, slightly broader shoulders that showed he'd not lost all of his muscles but a thin waist that had surely lost the chiseling abs that Gray'd loved to show off so much.

Natsu knew that Gray'd noticed him. He must've, he was still a trained fighter after all and even his female form would not just let someone sneak up on him. Natsu chose to believe so, despite the lack of recognition from Gray. He sat down beside the other, looking over his profile. On the one hand it was hard to imagine that it was Gray who sat beside him. His jawline was still pronounced, but less squared and his cheekbones stood out more than they'd ever done. The blue of his eyes was deep and captivating and his long eyelashes tickled the skin above his cheekbones when he blinked. On the other hand it was ridiculous that no-one had recognized him yet. Yes, his face was less angular and, yes, his eyes were marvelous. But if only you looked past the color at the deep sea of feelings that Gray always managed to hide for everyone but his closest friends. The hurt, the sadness, the loss. Natsu often forgot how much Gray'd had to endure in his life, but he was also sure that that was exactly what Gray wanted.

"Smoking again, hm? Just great, I'm going to smell that on you for days." Gray, to Natsu's great relief, didn't flinch or jump. It meant he had noticed Natsu, he'd just not acknowledged him yet.

Gray in response took a deep drag from his cigarette, which Natsu now realized he must've gotten from Wakaba, and blew out a series of smoke rings. Natsu watched them with fascination, temporarily brought back to a memory of Igneel doing something alike.

"I'm not pitying you, you know?" Natsu said, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He just noticed the side glance Gray gave him. "I'm not. You're just overreacting, you big crybaby."

"Shut up."

"You've been stuck in Lucy's body before. And you've been through much worse, too. Heck, you've been killed Gray. This is nothing, just a little bad luck. We're just going to get your magic back and then you can go back to being your annoying-ass stripper self. It's not a big deal."

"Don't patronize me, asshole. I know what you're doing, trying to make it seem like it's all nothing. But I know you don't know what to do, and that scares you. And I'm allowed to be scared, too, for once."

A hand closed around Natsu's heart and squeezed painfully. He knew Gray was right. Gray had the right to be scared. A feeling of guilt washed over him, too. Maybe he had been enjoying Gray's misery a little much, looks lingering too long and blushes rising to his cheeks to often. And god, what he did last night, if Gray ever in his life learned of the unspeakable act Natsu had done he'd surely kill him. And of course, he'd have the right to do that, too,

"What do you want from me?" Natsu's voice unintentionally caught in his throat, but he let it slip. Gray noticed it, too, Natsu just knew it, but he didn't say a thing.

There was a long silence and Natsu wondered if his buddy had given up on the conversation or if he merely didn't have the answer the pink was waiting for.

Eventually, Gray flicked his cigarette butt into the water and took out a new one from the pack that laid by his side. He lit it and took a drag before slowly letting his eyes meet Natsu's.

"I don't want anything from you. Most certainly not those guiltridden looks and worrying tones and I most definitely don't want you, or Cana or Mirajane for that matter, to start treating me like I'm some breakable little thing just because I…"

"Because you look like a girl?" Natsu asked.  
"Because I got hurt." Gray corrected.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at his friend, got hurt? When'd he even…? Shit.

"Is that what bothers you? That you couldn't stop this from happening?" Natsu frowned and leaned forward, trying to look Gray in the eye, but the blunette merely stared into the soft flowing water. "Gray, that's ridiculous. No-one knew about the kind of poison he used and the both of us assumed he would come to talk to you instead of drugging your drink when you're not looking like a damn coward."

"Yeah, but that's just it, isn't it?" Gray sounded annoyed, but Natsu reckoned that was a good thing because at the very least he was showing his feelings. "I wasn't looking. He might be a coward but I'm a fucking Fairy Tale Mage. Or at the very least I was."

"Don't you dare say that!" Natsu shouted, and in a fit of rage he slapped the cigarette out of Gray's hand and grabbed him by the front of his top. "Don't ever think like that. You're still a mage, we'll get your magic back and you will _always _belong to Fairy Tail."

Gray did a futile attempt to tear Natsu's fist off his shirt, "I…"

"You may have fucking boobs now, Gray Fullbuster, but so did Ur and her daughter Ultear. Were they mere damsels in distress? Gray? Is Cana? Is fucking Erza? What do you think they would say about this? Do you think big badass ice mage Ur would sit here beside you and let you smoke your feelings away?" He looked Gray in the eyes and to his satisfaction he found some resemblance of realization in them. "I bet she would beat your girly ass." Natsu thought that maybe he should leave it at that, seeing that Every single one of his words had hit home already. But there was just one more thing he needed to get off his chest. "And you might have boobs right now, Gray. But the Fairy Tail insignia is still on them. Don't you ever fucking forget that again."

* * *

**AN: **

So, I'm just gonna apologize here. I've not been doing so well, depression wise, and I'm just feeling a little lost and down and it's hard for me to find the motivation to do shit like this. You should know I've not actually given up on this story or anything, but I just... well it might just take a little longer. This chapter is for Shadowfox452 and for Frostbite003, who made me realize there were still people out there excited over what I create and waiting for me to write again. Thank you 3000 for that it helped a lot.  
So furthermore, couldn't forget about Gray's defeat, of course, gotta stay true to his character and the real Gray would not have let that go, remember all the rematches he's had (uche uche Rufus in the GMG, etc.) and how he goes "i've never lost to the same enemy twice", I'm kind of rooting for Raven Mika to go kick some rapist ass. But we'll see how the story progresses.


End file.
